The earliest known picture of Blackburn Rovers Football Club. It was probably taken in 1878 and of those on show most notable is the man third from the right at the front, John Lewis (no.5 on his shirt) , generally acknowledged as the main driving force behind Rovers.

This image is (c) Cottontown and is used with permission

Even history has to start somewhere and the history of Blackburn Rovers began in 1868 when wealthy industrialist John Lewis moved to the northern mill town of Blackburn from his home of Market Drayton. Lewis had a passion other than his work; the sport of football, which was increasing in popularity after the codification of its rules, which had been drawn up by the public schools and universities. Initially the game of association football was a sport of upper middle class and even of aristocrats. The patrician leaning would not last too long in the sport. While in Blackburn Lewis’s business flourished and as a member of the moneyed class he mixed with other of the most prominent men of town. More relevant to our story than those others was a former pupil of the prestigious Shrewsbury public school, Arthur Constantine. Constantine shared Lewis’s enthusiasm for the emerging sport. Together they took the decision to create their own team for themselves and their adopted town. To do this they called a meeting at the St Leger Hotel in King William Street, Blackburn which took place on 5th November 1875. Seventeen men attended, mainly from the educated and commercial classes of the town. Blackburn Rovers Football Club was formed. The public school background of many of those present (even those who had not been to public school had at least been to the local grammar school, meaning this was a meeting of wealthy and educated people) became evident when the strip to for the club to play in was chosen. It was chosen to base the shirt on that of ex-public schoolboy side Old Malverians but to change the green to a Cambridge blue colour as a reference to the old University of many of those present.

If anything explains why Blackburn Rovers were to become the dominant club of the town and later of the whole country it is the social standing of those willing to back the club. Rovers may have become the team of the Blackburn working class yet their origins were steeped in the patronage of prominent families of the town. It also gave them an advantage on the football field. The players Rovers called upon tended to be physically stronger than most of their opponents. That is unsurprising; with better diets and a less manual workload they could afford to spend time improving their game. Often their opponents had worked for the previous six days on demanding factory work. Blackburn Olympic, for example, were made up almost entirely of weavers and other types of factory workers. They were smaller and with less strength and had to be make up for it through pace and teamwork.

Rovers initially made their money from subscriptions and collected £2 8s 0d. In 1877 they finally found a home ground at Oozebooth. It’s fair to say that from that time forward, Blackburn Rovers Football Club never looked back. The pre-eminent position as the team of the town of Blackburn was assured when they were asked to be founder member of the Football League. From now on, when people thought of Blackburn, many would also think of Rovers. The two became inextricably linked.